Increasing speed with optimal documentation

Increasing both traceability and efficiency during the labeling of pharmaceuticals – at this year’s ACHEMA in Frankfurt (hall 3.1, booth F57), HERMA presents a new solution combining these two tasks. Thanks to the new removal module, misprinted labels remain on the backing paper and are no longer discarded onto a label collecting roll. “Thanks to our special construction, users are now able to label pharmaceuticals more efficiently and create documentation with better traceability. Especially in the case of batch changes, setting up a new format often leads to misprints. Until now, labels featuring unreadable print or wrong codes were not applied to the product but discarded onto a motorized label collecting roll. Counting and analyzing these rejected labels proved very difficult”, says Ulrich Fischer, Head of Product Management at HERMA GmbH. With HERMA’s new label removal unit, which is patent pending worldwide, the time for discharging misprinted labels is reduced by more than half, as the complete process of applying them to a collecting roll is rendered unnecessary. Labels with insufficient quality now remain on the backing paper. For that purpose, two rounded, semi-cylindrical sliders quickly extend over the dispensing beak. Their radius is such that the label will not detach from the backing paper but remain there instead. The run of the product to be labeled is neither stopped nor slowed down. After finishing the batch, users can easily unwind the backing paper to analyze and document every misprinted label. Potential error sources can thus be identified earlier and be efficiently eliminated for future batches. Counting and analyzing the labels becomes easy.

Available for two models
The new label removal unit can be used with the wrap-around labeling machines HERMA 152E and HERMA 132M. The compact wrap-around labeling system 152E covers a wide range of product dimensions without requiring any format sets and features full pharmaceutical equipment, including e.g. modules for variable data printing, for monitoring print and codes, and for label presence checks and the corresponding ejection unit. Performance can be as high as 100 products per minute. Thanks to its continuously rotating star wheel, the HERMA 132M wrap-around labeling machine manages up to 330 products per minute. The compact, modular design with standardized components makes it possible to assemble the machines with high precision yet very economically, tailored to individual user requirements. A user-friendly, ergonomic design, short set-up times, and easy format changes ensure even better economy. The innovative label removal unit will have its world premiere at the ACHEMA booth in a HERMA 152E wrap-around labeling system. “Stable and efficient production processes are very important to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Short set-up times as well as the perfect interplay of proven, perfectly coordinated modules are key requirements for that”, says Martin Kühl, head of HERMA’s Labeling Machines Division. “With our new module, we have created an additional feature that not only allows users to save time but also allows them to accurately analyze each individual batch.”